Lupita Nyong’o covers the April issue of InStyle Mag. She looks so pretty here! I love her green. But I love her in most of the bright, vibrant colors she wears. This interview was conducted just as the #OscarsSoWhite controversy was blowing up, so probably in late January or early February. While Lupita has spoken publicly about race and Hollywood and even #OscarsSoWhite, she goes a bit further in this interview. It would have been hard for her to avoid – she’s the last actor of color to win an Oscar, and that was back in 2014. Some highlights:
She didn’t have anything lined up after she won an Oscar: “Right after the Oscars, I had no idea what I was going to do next. Zero clue. There’s a part of me that thought my life would go back to normal. Like at school. But it didn’t. I did not get out of that unscathed, you know?”
She worried about the “Oscar curse” for Best Supporting Actress winners: “They go on to appear in bomb after bomb after bomb.”
On #OscarsSoWhite: “It’s a disappointment that the nominations this year have not reflected some of the work of people of color, and I hope this moment helps fuel that conversation. There is a real imbalance, from the very creation of the stories and who’s telling them, how, and why. Change has to happen with the writers, the studio, the marketers, the directors. That’s got to be diversified because there is a hunger for the expansion of the role of people of color in the center of narratives.”
Shaving off her hair: “I wasn’t sure if I could pull off [the bald look] because hair is the frame of the face, right? And we spend so much time on it, trying to get it perfect. It often defines one’s beauty and feminine value… Almost on a whim, I was like, ‘What if I didn’t have it?’ And so I shaved it all off — I was a complete baldy! It was shocking at first, especially for my mom. But I learned to embrace my features. And I like myself a lot more now that I’m not constantly fussing over my hair.”
[From InStyle & People Magazine]
She became famous when she had super-short, nearly buzzed hair, and I’ll admit that I like that look on her the best. It’s more striking, and all you see is her incredible face. It’s like, that’s why Audrey Hepburn could wear her hair that short – with that face, you didn’t need hair. As for diversity issues and worries about an Oscar curse… I worry about all of that for Lupita too. Not that she’s going to star in bomb after bomb, but that Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with her and she’s going to be “cursed” by the lack of imagination from studios, writers, directors, etc.
Here are some photos of Lupita late last week. Her dress was Gucci and she looked amazing.
Cover courtesy of InStyle, pics courtesy of WENN & Fame/Flynet.
Ha ha past Best Supporting Actress winners must love her quote about being in movies that are bombs after bombs…yikes !
I think Lupita will be just fine, though I am disheartened she wasn’t given bigger roles after her win. She has so much talent.
I know what she means but she’s not quite right. Mira Sorvino, Marissa Tomei, Adrien Brody, Cuba Gooding; they all had a grace period of several hits and big movies before they crashed and burned. The success stories are huge though; Jolie, Blanchett, Swinton.
Marisa Tomei is still doing well. She was in Best Picture nominee, The Big Short.
@Mia4s
When you look at the past tally of this category winners it proves her point. They’re exceptions sure.
But Marissa Tomei was in career wilderness for a long time with many bombs, post Oscar, before she made a comeback.
And what hits were Mira Sorvino, Adrian Brody, and Cuba Gooding Jr in post-Oscar?
Gooding was a step away from Hollywood Squares before OJ series rescued him!
Her answer about the Oscars controversy is really great! I like that she pointed out that some works by people of color ware unfailt snubbed and at the same time she acknowledged that there’s so much work to do when it comes to the industry itself, not just the awards. I think Lupita is trying to find the best gigs, but also she knows that she’ll have to create roles for herself (Americanah) or alternate with other venues (Broadway).
I’ve also read that she’s in talks for a sci-fi flick directed by Ava DuVernay; I hope it’s true!
I’Ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This woman could (and should) be a lead in everything. Romantic comedies, action flicks, dramas, heist movies, dystopian franchises, Tarantino ensemble extravaganza…you name it. EVERYTHING.
This is so true.
Especially romantic comedies. I think it’s really odd that romantic comedies for the ‘general public’ are always all white (with a few minor exceptions). If you want to be in a romantic comedy and you’re black, you have to be in a Tyler Perry movie. And if you’re not white, and not black? Good luck. No romance for you, apparently.
If Lupita were white, she would have had plenty of options to pad her resume with several charming, glamourous roles to increase her visibility, make some money, and show she can do more than only serious, depressing characters.
It’s possible she’s had these options and turned them down, but I doubt it.
It amazes me that she is not being snapped up by directors and studios for all their projects too. she could have been in so many of the 2015 films. I hope 2016 will be better for her. Apart from being a incredibly good actress, she has incredibly fashion sense. better than 99% of other actresses, and I want to raid her closet.
She is a clothes horse like Freida Pinto and nothing much else. She doesn’t have the joie de vivre to succeed on the big screen. Try BEST TV
Huh?
People are going to completely misinterpret this, but she should really do TV. That’s where all the opportunities for great roles are these days. Can you imagine a Shonda Rimes vehicle starring Lupita?? EPIC. Or even an HBO show or NBC crime drama. Even Netflix has some amazing shows with outstanding acting these days!
Not only best supporting actresses Lupita but best supporting actors too. Adrien Brody, Cuba Gooding Jr. anybody?
Perhaps if she stopped turning down roles because the parts weren’t leads she might have a chance. The couple of roles she turned down in films turned out to not be bombs. Like I said before, Lupita can’t expect to jump straight to the top because of her Oscar win. She isn’t a proven actress like JLaw who had been in several movies before she won her Oscar.
I remember some of her fans on this site were so happy that she was going to be in The Jungle Book. I can’t believe how excited they were for her to be in yet another movie where you only hear her voice, not see her face.
She seems a bit full of herself, don’t know why people act like she is above being criticized..
“Perhaps if she stopped turning down roles because the parts weren’t leads”
……except that you go right on to mention her role in the Jungle Book and indirectly refer to Star Wars. Which are two roles she did accept where the parts weren’t leads.
And she’s ‘full of herself’, eh?
There lies the crux of it all “that Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with her and she’s going to be “cursed” by the lack of imagination from studios, writers, directors, etc.”
Could I see her in a lead, yes. But it has to be a role that is unique to her. Her love interest has to be specific to her as well ( meaning chemistry). In that her look is unique in real life and it has to be addressed in a movie or be part of the plot. Unless they will place a wig on her which defeats the whole purpose of being Lupita.
If I were Lupita, I would pay a team to develop a script for me, then try and shop that around to studio.
“There lies the crux of it all “that Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with her and she’s going to be “cursed” by the lack of imagination from studios, writers, directors, etc.”
Sad thing is that there are plenty of Lupita’s in Hollywood; she is not unique. They just haven’t had the chance to go mainstream Hollywood or they didn’t have the opportunity that Lupita had to gain mainstream attention. IMO if 12 Years wasn’t nominated for an Oscar as well as Lupita, she would be just another Black actress that the masses wouldn’t even be paying attention to.
Maybe she could try TV as some suggested until she build up that resume. Or maybe she should try what they call Urban films geared towards the Black audience. Films such as The Best Man, Think Like a Man, Black Nativity, Akeelah and The Bee, The Perfect Man, Obsessed, Are We There Yet, Hustle and Flow, Barbershop, Love and Basketball, This Christmas and some others have done well domestically, I can’t speak for abroad.
Even Halle Berry did Black comedies in the beginning of her career. Some I’m sure she would like to forget (BAPS)
I don’t really understand how her look is “unique in real life”? It’s unique in Hollywood movies because they hardly put dark skinned black women in substantial roles, but their tons of dark skinned black women in the world.
Well, Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway has done very well for herself following her win. She’s starred in a hit (Rio 2) after hit (Interstellar) after hit (The Intern)!
And she’s going to be doing Princess Diaries III. The hits keep on coming for Best Supporting Oscar actresses!
Gahh her skin is so incredibly gorgeous!
This cover is just killing it! What a beauty! And always such a class act! Wish I was still in NY so I could go see her play.
She reminds me so much of Audrey Hepburn. Why don’t they do a remake of Roman Holiday with her and some hottie?
As much as I hate Woody Allen, I would love to see her in a Woody Allen movie (lighthearted comedy). She reminds me of french actress (of Senegalese descent) Aissa Maiga. She plays all types of roles.
https://www.google.pl/search?q=Aissa+Maiga&oq=Aissa+Maiga&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8